INTRODUCTION
1 This publication presents final estimates from the ABS Wine and Spirit Production and Wine Inventories Survey, 2011-12 (Annual Wine Survey).
SCOPE AND COVERAGE

2 The Annual Wine Survey aims to measure winemaking inputs, outputs and stocks of the Australian wine industry during the 2011-12 financial year.

3 This publication was produced based on a sample of businesses from the ABS business register (ABSBR). Prior to the 2011-12 collection, estimates of grape crush, wine production and inventories and the value of domestic wine sales was produced from a partial coverage census of winemaking businesses that crushed 50 or more tonnes of grapes.

4 The change in the survey design has resulted in a break in the data series between 2010-11 and 2011-12. Comparisons between data from 2010-11 and 2011-12 should be interpreted with caution. The impact of this change in coverage is an approximate increase of 6.0% to 6.5% in grape crush, wine production and wine inventories at a national level.

5 The 2011-12 collection surveyed winemaking business entities that were classified to ANZSIC 0131 or ANZSIC 1214 or were considered to be significant contributors to the wine industry. The businesses were asked to report crush and production data on a state basis to allow for the creation of state outputs. Similarly to previous years, the grapes crushed by these wineries included grapes owned by others and crushed on a commission or contract basis, often for wine producers who do not have their own crushing facilities.

6 Prior to 2011-12, the collection consisted of wineries who crush 50 tonnes or more of grapes to produce grape crush and wine production statistics. This data was collected from winemaking businesses on a winery (location) basis to allow for state outputs. The grapes crushed by these wineries included grapes owned by others and crushed on a commission or contract basis, often for wine producers who do not have their own crushing facilities. Winemaking businesses who crushed more than 400 tonnes of grapes were included in the Inventories of Australian Wine and Brandy collection. Historical data in tables 2 and 3 are based on data from wineries who crushed 50 tonnes or more during the specified period while tables 5 and 6 are compiled from data from winemaking businesses who crushed 400 tonnes or more.

7 Quantity data presented in Table 7 of the publication prior to 2011-12 is compiled from the quarterly domestic wine sales collection published in Shipments of Wine and Brandy in Australia by Australian Winemakers and Importers (cat. no. 8504.0). Statistics presented in Table 7 for 2011-12 have been compiled from the Annual Wine Survey. Comparisons between data from prior to 2011-12 and 2011-12 should be interpreted with caution.

9 All inventories data are collected on an Australia-wide basis only and state figures are therefore not available. Inventories data collected from 1996 include all Australian-produced wines owned by these winemakers and held anywhere in Australia. In years previous to 1996, inventories included only those Australian-produced wines held by winemakers on any of their own premises, regardless of ownership. This change in the measurement of inventories means that data for 1996 and later are not directly comparable with earlier years.
10 It is possible that inventories data may vary slightly each year as new wineries, with either large or small inventories, are included the collection. In particular, the published (i.e. closing) inventories figures for any one year may differ slightly with the opening inventories for the following year.
11 The wine content of products consisting of a mixture of wine and fruit juice, commonly known as ‘coolers’, is included in the appropriate wine category of the wine from which it is made, which is generally table wine.

STATISTICAL UNIT
12 In the Annual Wine Survey, the statistical unit used to represent businesses, and for which statistics are reported, is the Australian Business Number (ABN) unit, in most cases. The ABN unit is the business unit which has registered for an ABN, and thus appears on the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) administered Australian Business Register. This unit is suitable for ABS statistical needs when the business is simple in structure. For more significant and diverse businesses where the ABN unit is not suitable for ABS statistical needs, the statistical unit used is the Type of Activity Unit (TAU). A TAU is comprised of one or more business entities, sub-entities or branches of a business entity within an Enterprise Group that can report production and employment data for similar economic activities. When a minimum set of data items is available, a TAU is created which covers all the operations within an industry subdivision (and the TAU is classified to the relevant subdivision of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC)). Where a business cannot supply adequate data for each industry, a TAU is formed which contains activity in more than one industry subdivision and the TAU is classified to the predominant ANZSIC subdivision.
13 Further details about the ABS economic statistical units used in this survey, and in other ABS economic surveys (both sample surveys and censuses), can be found in Chapter 2 of the Standard Economic Sector Classifications of Australia (SESCA) 2008(cat. no. 1218.0).

RELIABILITY OF THE ESTIMATES
14 Since the estimates produced are based on a sample of businesses they are subject to sampling error; that is, they may differ from the figures that would have been obtained if information for all businesses for the relevant period had been included in the survey. A measure of the likely difference is given by the relative standard error (RSE) of each estimate. There are about 2 chances in 3 that a sample estimate will differ by less than one standard error from the figure that would have been obtained if all units had been included, and about 19 chances in 20 that the difference will be less than 2 standard errors.
15 An example of the use of RSEs is as follows. If the total volume of wine produced is 1,100m litres and the associated RSE is 0.5% then there are about 2 chances in 3 that the value which would have been obtained if there had been a complete collection would have been within the range 1,094m litres to 1,106m litres and about 19 chances in 20 that the value would have been within the range 1,089m litres and 1,111m litres.
16 Estimates that have an estimated relative standard error between 10% and 25% are annotated with the symbol ‘^’. These estimates should be used with caution as they are subject to sampling variability too high for some purposes. Estimates with an RSE between 25% and 50% are annotated with the symbol ‘*’, indicating that the estimate should be used with caution as it is subject to sampling variability too high for most practical purposes. Estimates with an RSE greater than 50% are annotated with the symbol ‘**’ indicating that the sampling variability causes the estimates to be considered too unreliable for general use.
17 The imprecision due to sampling variability, which is measured by the RSE, should not be confused with inaccuracies that may occur because of inadequacies in the source of information, imperfections in reporting by respondents, and errors made in the coding and processing of data. Inaccuracies of this kind are referred to as non-sampling error, and may occur in any enumeration whether it be a full count or only a sample. Every effort is made to reduce the non-sampling error to a minimum by the careful design of questionnaires, efforts to obtain responses for all selected organisations, and efficient operating procedures.

COMPARABILITY WITH OTHER ABS COLLECTIONS

18 Differences exist between the grape production intended for winemaking reported by grape growers in the viticulture collection in the publication Vineyards, Australia 2011-12 (cat. no. 1329.0.55.002), and the quantity of fresh grapes crushed by winemakers reported in the Wine and Spirit Production Collection. Differences in the collection methodologies, mean some difference should always be apparent between the series.

19 Estimates of the quantity of domestics sales between this collection and the quarterly sales collection published in Shipments of Wine and Brandy in Australia by Australian Winemakers and Importers (cat. no. 8504.0) will be different due to the collections being conducted using different frames and different estimation methodologies. The quarterly collection is based on a survey of all wine making businesses that sold over 250,000 litres in either of the previous two financial years based on previous Annual Wine Surveys, while this publication presents domestic sales of all sampled businesses based on the scope and coverage outlined above, regardless of their quantity of sales.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
20 ABS publications draw extensively on information provided freely by individuals, businesses, governments and other organisations. Their continued cooperation is very much appreciated: without it, the wide range of statistics published by the ABS would not be available. Information received by the ABS is treated in strict confidence as required by the Census and Statistics Act 1905.

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